Parkinsonism in alcohol withdrawal: a follow-up study.
Transient parkinsonism associated with alcohol intake and withdrawal has previously been described. We followed-up three patients with acute alcohol withdrawal-induced parkinsonism 9-11 years after their initial presentation. None showed any evidence of parkinsonism at follow-up. This suggests that withdrawal-induced parkinsonism is caused by a completely reversible abnormality in nigrostriatal dopamine transmission, which is unaccompanied by underlying nigral degeneration, as we had previously hypothesized.
Shandling
M
M
Division of Neurology, Mt. Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Carlen
P L
PL
Lang
A E
AE
D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000209:etiology*; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*